Hospital Flowers
by 2theSky
Summary: Paige pursues the Renegade in a high speed chase through Argon, and the result is not what she even remotely expected.


**"I survived a dreadful accident in the car crash of the century. My shattered hopes collapsed on cold cement, but in the back of the ambulance, I'd never felt so content..."**

* * *

"GIVE UP ALREADY!"

Yeah, said that line enough times to the lunatic in the white-hot suit with the blaring "T" obnoxiously emblazoned on his chest. But what else was there? "In the name of the Occupation, I order you to stop!" was not an option. And, with my light cycle's frame racing with livid orange cracks from it's energy tanks being almost drained before this ridiculous chase began... it was looking like I was going to have to let the Renegade get away... again.

I swerved, the tires of my bike crunching on the remains of a Black Guard who hadn't anticipated the tight corner. I'd almost missed it, only seeing the Renegade's blazing blue light wall just a nanocycle before I would've wound up in scattered cubes like the soldier before me.

As I righted the bike from it's skidding drift, I saw the Renegade draw his disc, the blinding edge igniting. "You throw that at me, and I swear-"

My mumbled snarl was cut off my cubes starting to pull the very coding from my bike; the orange rims flickered as one of the eleven (it used to be twelve) programs in the Black Guard Squad trailing me skidded into the light wall. A loud screech echoed in the back streets, making me cringed. "And," I sighed, then finished my thought in a pained whisper, "then there were ten."

I glanced up in time to see the brilliant disc slash through a pole of pale green holding up a traffic sign, the sign falling with multiple bangs and crashes onto the street, light blue cubes of coding derezzing from the scraped road and spraying everywhere. Following the brilliance of the light wall, I sped up, my front tire nudging the edge of the Renegade's back tire, his light wall deactivating. "Didn't the Occupation teach you that light walls are dangerous?" he wryly joked.

"Didn't anyone teach you stealing was illegal?!" I shot back, my foot sneaking out as the clammering sign stopped banging, creating a ramp. The nanocycle his bike hit the ramp, i smashed my foot into his bike; the motion tore more cubes from my light cycle, but it was worth it as his bike swerved on the ramp.

The masked head glanced back, then faced forward again. I snorted. Even an idiot knew not to turn back while driving a light cycle- it could cause a program to crash. "Definitely no Tron," I muttered, curling the acceleration back under my hand as we soared off the jump-

and onto the oncoming lane.

For there only being half a petrocycle til curfew, the traffic was heavy. I swerved behind "Tron", drawing my disc and... oddly wincing.

He glanced back again! Seriously, this guy must have been missing a lot of vital coding, the coding called "common sense"!

Common sense would've said to not drive in oncoming.

Common sense would've said to not get involved in a high-speed chase.

It would've said to slow down.

And it definitely would've said not to look over your shoulder while-

"Just give up!" the white-armored, most likely insane, program shouted over the horns and screeches of drivers around us; most had wisely pulled over, but a few had hit each other, thankfully no one derezzed yet.

Give up...

Um, no.

I noticed more cubes flying and looked down to see just how bad off my bike was-

or how bad my arm was.

I winced as the pain hit from a long slit in my arm. I thought that light wall emitted a lot of heat-

too much heat.

It wasn't life-threatening, though. I could fix it later. I-

No, no. Flashbacks... not now! I tore my thoughts away from my arm and sped up more, watching as the Renegade spun his light cycle around in a U-turn. I did the same, knowing that with CLU in Argon now, any kind of failure- any imperfection- was not an option.

The bike, however, had ideas of its own, and it finally burst, exploding and throwing tiny orange cubes of gleaming code all over the road-

and throwing me with it.

I felt the tear in my arm rip more as I fell to the road, the cubes of the light cycle ripping through more of my suit, several circuits painfully sliced open by the sharp splines of code. I didn't open my eyes; wherever I'd landed, there was no noise... I'd probably been thrown over the deep blue guardrails... or hit by a transport trailer... or something. Something really hard.

"Great," I managed to gasp, my head landing hard on the pavement. "He's gone ag-"

I was swallowed by blackness as I passed out.

* * *

**"A high speed collision gave a new sense of sight to me, and now my vision can render the scene. A blurry image of wreckage and roadside debris; happiness returned to me through a grave emergency..."**

* * *

What... just... happened?

My arm ached, tingling constantly. It was healing; I could feel the code piecing together as I tried to open my eyes. They were heavy... how long had I been out? A cycle? Two? It felt like it could've been a million.

Finally, I forced my eyes open and immediately shut them again. It was way too bright. Wherever I was, it was way, way, WAY too bright.

"Sorry, Commander."

I jumped, daring to squint in the direction of the voice addressing me. A medic. She looked tired, her short white hair disheveled and her grey eyes tired. Her dark skin seemed a little pale. When had she last had any energy?

I then realized... another medic. All the images of the hospital... the ISOs... my friends... the picture... I shook my head and closed my eyes, fighting the painful images flooding my mind and drowning it in the past. I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want to! I-

"Commander, please calm down!"

An alarm in the room sounded, and I cringed, my already throbbing head practically splitting open at the shrill sound. I grabbed the white sheets beneath my body, and the drab blankets covering me, and balled them up in my fists. I was shaking. I could feel it now; but-

"Get that sedative in here NOW!"

Sedative?! I didn't need a sedative! I was fine- I just needed a few nanocycles in a room that wasn't stark white- I'd grown so used to my orange and black quarters on Tesler's ship- and a room that wasn't occupied by another program, especially a medic.

Someone grabbed my arm and I was turned on my back; I didn't even know I'd rolled onto my side. Something pricked my arm, and I winced, as it was my bad arm. Immediately the pain lessened and I felt sluggish. Pain medication and sedative mixed...

Before I could pinpoint what exactly I'd been injected with, my eyes met those of the tired medic, her eyes scared and apologetic as mine slid shut.

* * *

**"I tossed and turned in sterile apathy until the violets arrived for me. The bouquet burst and blossoms filled the room, and the place got smaller as they grew taller and taught me to bloom..."**

* * *

Fuzzy...

my mouth was fuzzy.

I swallowed, almost gagging on how dry my throat was. Aftereffect of the stupid sedative.

At least now, as I opened my eyes, the pain wasn't bad. Bearable at best. And the lighting had been left lowered. Good.

I sat up, wincing slightly at the pain. I must've fallen pretty far in the accident. Oh well. It was said and done and-

CLU.

I looked at the doorway and immediately wished I could stand at attention. CLU just let his helmet fall back as he walked into my room in what I now knew was a hospital and he looked around. "Looks pretty dull in here," he commented. "Not a big fan of white. Especially on all sides."

I nodded, starting to hate white more myself because of the stupid Renegade.

I braced myself for the lecture or punishment for failing. CLU wouldn't derezz me though... right?

Right?

CLU tilted his head and stared at me, almost smirking. "Relax, Commander. No harm done in losing the Renegade. Just an... insolent little trouble-maker. And there will be a next time."

I could feel my eyes grew wide without my permission. No lecture on perfection? No shouts of anger, which I knew from rumors that CLU was prone to?

What had just happened?!

As I snapped out of my thoughts, I found CLU standing in the doorway. "They said you need two more cycles of recovery. I'll expect you back. With Pavel around..."

I almost smirked at that; Pavel was definitely no help in the fight for perfection, save for his scientific craziness.

"Oh," CLU stepped one foot back into my room, his helmet stopping midway as it began to slip back over his face, "someone stopped by, I guess." He pointed towards the window- I hadn't even noticed the window... or what sat in front of it. "Maybe a secret admirer?"

I immediately jumped to defend myself against that. "Sir, that's not possible-"

"Why not? You're a very attractive program, Commander. No harm in an admirer." CLU let his helmet slide back over his face finally and stepped out, leaving me with, "Have a good cycle, Commander."

* * *

**"A high speed collision gave a new sense of sight to me, and now my vision can render the scene. A blurry image of wreckage and roadside debris; happiness returned to me through a grave emergency..."**

* * *

I don't know how long I say there, staring at the window, but moreso at what sat in front of it on a sterile white table.

Flowers...

A black vase, reflecting the light of the room on its curves, with blue circles etched over the black, was filled with flowers. I finally stood up and stepped over to it, in awe at the flowers. I'd heard that only specialty programs could make them, and they usually wanted a high price with their barter system of profit.

These were beautiful; they were each unique, one flower a pale aqua and yellow with thin petals curling and twisting up towards the ceiling. Another was purely pink, four simple petals gleaming with code. One was deep blue, swirled with silver, the center black. Two others were green, one short and puffy and the other tall and looking like a Bit when it answered "no". One was purple, the petals dotted with pink and yellow. A couple flowers were different shades of red, all different sizes. And finally, there were five white flowers, each glistening in blue outline over their petals. Each flower in the vase had a blue stem, and the vase was filled with energy.

Flowers...

Programs had never thought to name flowers; that wasn't exactly at the top of our to-do list. But they were incredibly beautiful, and I smiled at the thought. They must've cost a lot... maybe a light cycle or two, or something illegal... I quickly switched my train of thought to believe it was the latter.

I laid back down on the bed, the hardness a little shocking. I'd always wished hospitals were a little more comfortable, even when I worked in one. The beds weren't really "beds"- they were cold slabs of table with blankets and pillows.

As I fell asleep, I smiled, staring at the flowers yet, wondering who had gotten them.

* * *

**"The curtains decayed, the daylight poured in, and I was never afraid of the darkness again. My burns were third degree, but I'd been set free 'cause grace had finally found its way to me..."**

* * *

One more cycle left, and I could leave.

The pain was almost gone, but, under doctor's orders, no strenuous activity for another mylacycle or two. So...

that removed chasing the Tron-wannabe from the equation.

I stood up and stretched, waiting for the medic to come in to help with the therapy for my arm; they told me yesterday that I'd almost lost it. That I'd come incredibly close to derezzing as well. That I wasn't resting enough, that I was sleep-deprived. That I needed more energy. That-

Instead, the medic walked in, the same tired one from before my sedation, and she stared at the data tablet in her hands and glanced up, smiling slightly at me. "Well, Commander, you healed faster than expected. You can leave whenever you wish."

I nodded, shocked, and thanked her as she left. I grabbed up the only thing that was mine in the room, the flowers. As I did, something fell from the flowers themselves and I frowned, setting the vase back down on the table and grabbing up what was a small sheet of code, like a mini data pad or tablet. I flipped it around and read the bleu words glowing on the black:

_**Sorry about that- I really hadn't meant for the chase to go that far. I know a "sorry" isn't enough to make up for you crashing and getting hurt, but considering you won't let me get within arms length without drawing your disc and wanting to derezz me, I figured this was my only option...**_

I glared at the card. So... the Renegade had brought these! Nothing had exploded yet, and a quick examination of the vase revealed that there was no poisonous code or explosive in his gift anywhere. I stared at the card in my hand, seeing a scroll bar on the side that I hadn't before. More writing. Well, it couldn't hurt to see what the Grid's most wanted had to say.

_**...I hope you like the flowers. If not, that's fine too. I'm not even sure you'll see this card.**_

A signature "Get well soon" was stamped at the bottom of the writing, probably done before he'd written above it by the program who'd created the flowers. I stared at them for a moment, thinking, then felt something wet on my hand, the hand that held the card. I opened my hand and stared at the black inky liquid on it. Fluid...

from a light cycle.

And it was on the card.

I stared at the flowers and the card, my eyes jumping between them in realization. This meant one of two things: either the program who made the flowers was a mechanic, or the Renegade was a mechanic.

And the second option was more likely.

So... I smiled. The first place I'd be stopping was Argon's garage, right after I got back to CLU and Tesler.

* * *

**"A high speed collision gave a new sense of sight to me, and now my vision can render the scene..."**

* * *

The garage was massive, moreso than I remembered. I smirked at the thought of how Pavel had tried to fire the mechanics, only to realize, thanks to Tesler, that they were the only ones in the city capable of repairing the Occupation's equipment. And CLU just wrote off their defense of the Renegade as nothing, saying that it was only a temporary feeling, that they weren't the only ones in Argon who felt like that. He was probably right.

As I stepped inside, the hustle and bustle of repairs shocked me. These mechanics worked fast. I recognized the two that nearly died trying to explain that Hopper wasn't the Renegade; they were working on a light jet. What were their names? Zed and... Tara? No, Mara. Mara was leaning over the side of it, laughing at something Zed said. Zed just grinned and kept working.

They looked happy here. All the programs did.

Suddenly, something white flashed in the corner of my vision and I turned, my eyes locking on the Renegade's mask. He turned and stared in my direction, then bolted behind a pile of crates, probably holding tools and engine parts. I followed him, seeing as no one else had noticed me, and threw him to the floor. tackling him and not getting up.

He didn't say anything, just stared up at me, only his breathing echoing in the tight space. I stared at him a nanocycle more, then whispered, "Thank you."

My injuries flared briefly with pain and I flinched. He tilted his masked head. "You're welcome. I really didn't mean for you to get hurt like that. Are... are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yes. But... why do you care? I'm the enemy."

"I thought you derezzed. I don't kill programs."

"But those civilians-"

He sighed. "I know you won't believe me, but that wasn't me. I swear."

I bit my lip, skeptical. Something about the way he said it... I got up off him and offered him a hand up, my good hand. He stood and nodded his thanks. "So... as soon as you're outside, we're enemies again."

I shrugged awkwardly. "I... guess so."

He nodded. "Get well, Paige." Then he disappeared behind a crack in the crates. Instead of following him, I turned around to leave, a little overwhelmed at how everything was changing around me. This was definitely not what I'd expected to ever do... actually talk to the Renegade.

I turned around, whirling on my high heels, partially hoping to maybe see him. But he was gone. Instead, I was drawn back to Zed and Mara, and a new program who'd joined them-

Beck.

He grinned at Zed, nodding at whatever he was told. Mara jumped off the light jet and punched him, and the three laughed at whatever was said. He looked just like last time, at the club. Except, he looked tired. Maybe he'd been pulling late shifts lately.

But that was no concern of mine... at least, not really.

I walked back outside, unnoticed- surprisingly, and rezzed up my light cycle, racing through the Argon streets, left with a lot to think about, and a vase full of flowers in my quarters that left me with more questions than answers.

And to think of what a chain reaction a simple vase of flowers started...

* * *

**"A blurry image of wreckage and roadside debris; happiness returned to me through a grave emergency..."**

* * *

_-you guys have no idea how long i've been waiting to post this! i just had to write the ending... (it's only been sitting in one of my many notebooks for, oh, idk, five months?)_

_i won't have any more oneshots up until after my finals, so... that'll be about 3 weeks :P sorry, guys :( and sorry if there were typos :(_

_have a good day, or night, or whatever time of day it is, and God bless! :)_

_-lyrics from Owl City "Hospital Flowers"_


End file.
